abrdn plc Cuts Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

abrdn plc lessened its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,386,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,222 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc owned about 0.43% of General Mills worth $151,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Barclays lowered their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.94.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $59.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.94 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. On average, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.